Various bullet-resistant garments have been produced. One such type of conventional bullet-resistant garment is known as “soft body armor”. Such soft body armor is typically formed of a relatively flexible material (e.g., woven KEVLAR fibers) which acts to provide the principal bullet-resistant characteristics of the garment.
Another type of conventional bullet-resistant garment is known as “hard body armor”. Such hard body armor is typically formed of relatively inflexible material (e.g., one or more ceramic plates) carried in pocket(s) in the garment. In this type of body armor the relatively inflexible material acts to provide the principal bullet-resistant characteristics of the garment.
Examples of patents relating to such soft body armor and hard body armor include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,297 to Atkins (entitled “Bullet Resistant Ballistic Panel Carrier Garment”); U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,020 to Dunn (entitled “Projectile Proof Vest”); U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,491 to Rasmussen (entitled “Method Of Fitting A Ballistic Panel Carrying Garment”); U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,802 to Small (entitled “Adaptive Ballistic Panel Carrying Garment”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,105 to Sacks (entitled “Protective Garment”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,594 to Yavin (entitled “Anti-Ballistic Ceramic Articles”); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,832 to Colvin (entitled “Body Armor”).
Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.